This invention relates generally to a test board connector, and especially to attaching a test board connector to a printed wiring board.
A test board connector is electrically connected to printed wires/conductors of a printed wiring board (PWB) by soldering a plurality of leads of the test board connector to the printed conductors. One of the problems in soldering the leads of the test board connector to the printed conductors concerns maintaining the proper position of the leads on the PWB prior to soldering. In the event that the connector becomes dislodged from the PWB or is otherwise jockeyed about during assembly of the connector to the PWB but prior to soldering, the leads become misaligned relative to the printed conductors and therefore are soldered to either the wrong or no circuit. Consequently, it is essential that the test board connector once mounted to the PWB be maintained in its proper position relative to the printed conductors.
In the past, test board connectors have been attached to a PWB by first inserting a horseshoe-shaped ring which is connected to the bottom of the test board connector through an opening of the PWB. A stick of metal is then slid through that portion of the ring which extends beyond the bottom of the PWB. Finally, the piece of metal is soldered to the bottom of the PWB.
Alternatively, the test board connector has a pair of legs extending beneath the body of the connector which are inserted through an opening of the PWB. Attached to one of the legs is a resilient arm extending towards but not in contact with the other leg. A finger located at the distal end of the resilient arm has a beveled surface sloping outwardly. As the legs of the connector are pushed through the opening of the PWB, the finger engages the periphery of the opening thereby bending the resilient arm towards the center of the opening. By continuing to push the legs through the opening, the beveled surface allows the finger to slide against the periphery of the opening until the finger is beneath the bottom surface of the PWB. At this point, the resilient arm snaps back to its original position thereby pushing the finger outside the opening and directly beneath the bottom surface of the PWB. Consequently, upward mobility of the connector is inhibited by the finger. The finger, however, does not adequately inhibit upward mobility and thus does not always prevent misalignment of the leads relative to the printed conductors prior to soldering of the former to the latter.